Urban Chickens....

Mobile Chicken Coop for city dwellers

 Last summer I had the itch to raise chickens once again.  A local handyman constructed this portable, fully self-contained unit that can house up to four laying hens.  It is adorable.

The lower level is fenced in and open on the bottom.  The hens can scratch for bugs and bits of dirt and leave a little fertilizer behind.  There's a little passageway up into the second floor where they have a roosting pole and laying box.  The large white roof raises up for access to the first floor.  On the far side is a wire fence-lined door to access the second floor.  And the last "little" door, shown open, is to allow the girls to get out and roam around the yard whenever you feel like watching them and enjoying their cute little hens antics.  

The whole unit stands about 5 ft tall and can be moved easily.  Note the thick, short dowels by the "little" door.  They are actually sturdily mounted and act as the handles.  On the opposite end of the unit,  a plump set of 8" wheels is mounted.  By lifting up on the handles a few inches, the unit can be wheeled along.  It works much like a wheel barrow.  I moved the unit nearly every day, watered in the fertilizer and had lush green grass a few weeks later. It was very handy, tidy and convenient.

Chickens are a great hobby, especially for young families.  You might think about starting your own little flock early nest spring.  There's nothing like farm fresh eggs...

Happy Gardening!

Drought Tolerant Garden

Drought Tolerant Garden

So, after really grasping that August and September are months of drought in the PNW, I decided to plant up a nice big bed of drought tolerant plants.  By planting just before the fall rains began, I knew these babies would have a chance to get well-established and do great all summer long.

Most of the plants I chose are sort of gray and fuzzy, a way to help them preserve moisture.  And being the thrifty gardener that I am, I simply divided my perennials out back and placed them in large groupings in the the front side yard.  Since we only had a light mist that day, I watered them in thoroughly, resolving not to drag the hose out to these little guys ever again.  One dousing and that was it.  By the middle of next summer, there should be lots of lovely pinks and purples lining the length of my neighbor's fence!

Thrify tip:  To convert a large area to garden, plan ahead.  For this 10-15x40 ft area, I layered newspaper and cardboard (that were headed for the recycle bin) over every square inch and then hailed the arborist to dump his load of chippings after he took down my neighbor's damaged tree. I spread the not so lovely chips out 3-4 inches thick. The arborist was glad to unload, I was glad for the free mulch.  It sat for about 2 years, decomposing from the bottom up.  I spot treated the few weeds that popped up and last week planted a few hundred starts.  By pulling back the mulch, digging a small hole and inserting the transplant, I had an instant garden.  Free is a very good price.  Let's see how it looks next summer!

Rose Campion-Lychnis coronaria

Pearly Everlasting-Anaphalis margaritacea

Yellow Yarrow-Achillea 'Moonshine'

Obedient Plant-Physostegia virginiana

Lamb's Ear-Stachys byxantina

Lavender-Lavandula

An un-named rambling rose  

Meadowsweet-Filipendula rubra

Remember, large beds, massive plantings.  

Young drought resistant plants settle in all winter long...

Happy Gardening

First Frost!

Purple Smokebush touched by frost

 As I predicted yesterday, we got our first frost of the year last night!

The lacy edgings on my plants were a delight to see.  How's your garden looking?

Maples leaves on a frosty lawn

Light at Night

Garden shed becomes a beacon in the backyard at night.....

Let's remember that your garden can also look wonderful at night.  In my backyard, the only lighting I have comes from my yellow garden shed.  That one little bulb casts a lovely light across the lawn, highlights the raised beds and outlines the curved garden path.  From my window, the view is serene and breath-taking.  Even during the long, gray winters a bright spot remains.

Excellent new book...

Has it really been a year since I last posted on this blog?

I started this little rambling place because I had been giving away starts of perennials from my garden and my friends wanted to know what they were, how to care for them, etc.  As it turns out, my friends were all passive users.  My blog has turned out to be a blogsite.  Yep, the 20 something crowd told me that this is really more a blogsite than a blog.

I guess I grew tired of not hearing anything back in response to my posts.

But I am back dear gardening friends.  And I've got a great new resource for you:  Gardening in the Pacific Northwest by Carol W. Hall and Norman E. Hall.  Published by Timber Press, it's not surprising that this book is filled with very relevant information that we all wish we had received years ago!


What's so great about it?  It's the first publication I've read that discusses the effects of the ocean currents, explaining our weather patterns.  Having grown up in the Midwest, I have spent nearly 25 years "translating" the seasons there to the seasons here.  There simply is no translation.  The oceanic effect has created a language of its own.  Now it seems so simple:  large body of water circulating cool currents means cooler air temperatures than one would expect.  Warm currents, likewise.  If those ocean currents shift early in the year---waa laa!  So does our weather.  And I hate to admit it, but they are right.  In the Pacific Northwest we only have two seasons:  wet and dry.  Usually October to April are gray and wet.  Usually May to September are drier and sunnier.  Summer arrives somewhere after the Fourth of July.  We get drought-like conditions during most Augusts and Septembers.  Then we get rain,  a killing frost, some chilly weather in November and December.  In January we get a few "spring" flowers that start to bloom.  Feb hits us with a stretch of sun most years and we all get out there and prune our fruit trees.  Sometimes we get another patch of ice or snow too.  Then a gradual, and I mean gradual, warming until we can finally plant seeds without having them rot in the ground.

Of course, we have all lived through these cycles, but if you are like me, you may not have put them all together.  It's classic PNW weather.  Not to be translated, follow a traditional calendar of seasons, but purely PNW in character.

And that folks, is just chapter one!

It's a great read and probably the most significant publication since Sunset Gardening came out.  That gold standard now has a companion.

Anyway, that's my opinion.....

Tonight, clear and cold.  Probably our first frost.  Brrr....  Cover your tender front door pots or you'll be composting them in the morning.


Happy Gardening!

Nancy